The Luxor Sufis: Living Keepers of the Ancient Egyptian Mysteries
Nestled neatly within the Luxor Temple complex is the Sufi Mosque of Abu ‘l-Haggag.
To understand the significance of the Abu ‘l-Haggag, it is essential to understand the lineage of the founder’s Alexandrian teachers. At the time Yusuf Abu ‘l-Hagggag, travelled to Alexandria to learn the mysteries, the city was a meeting place for all the foremost Sufi masters from the eastern and western lands of Islam. Among his many Sufi contacts was al-Jazuli, the leader of the Madyani brotherhood who became his teacher. When Abu ‘l-Haggag returned to Luxor, he created a zawiyah (school) within a mosque which had as its very foundation, the Temple of Luxor. He died in 1243 and is considered to be one of the greatest shaykhs of Southern Egypt.
Hidden within an annual feast-day celebration (local to Luxor) which honors Abu ‘l-Haggag, is an ancient Egyptian tradition. The ceremonial tradition involves a large boat being paraded around the streets of the city. In Sufism, the understanding of symbollism plays an important role. One symbol, such as the boat, can have many layers of meaning. Even though there is a reluctance to link this modern celebration to the ancient Feast of Opet where one of the gods was taken from their own temple to that of another in a boat, many parallels have been drawn. These would be much easier to dismiss if the theme of “the Sacred Boat” wasn’t prominant to both the Luxor and Karnak Temples.
The Madyani brotherhood is the Sufi Order that is heir to the ancient esoteric knowledge of the Egyptian Mystery Cults. An Egyptian Sufi mystic by the name of Dhul Nun Misri (798-856) became renowned for his knowledge of hieroglyphs and his ability to decipher the symbols carved on the temple walls. Misri was also a master of the art of alchemy and of the kabbala and was erudite in the secret tradition of Hermes/Thoth. By accumulating initiations into these esoteric doctrines, Misri was able to combine their doctrines in an overriding gnosis. The Madyani brotherhood is the vehicle of Misri’s teachings. As a result, there is still a living gnosis within the temples at Edfu, Luxor, and Karnak–one that can be transmitted.
On the night of the twenty-seventh of November in 1991 my husband and I became a part of that gnosis. The entire day was an experience starting when we arrived early to the Luxor Temple. Among the first to enter, we immediately made our way to the Santuary. On the way, we were “recognised” by a man who assisted us in charging some important crystals.
After the completion of our tasks, he took us to specific places within the Luxor Temple complex and showed us specific gestures corresponding to certain hieroglyphs. The most memorable experience was within the Sanctuary of the Boat. I don’t know at what point we realized it, but we stumbled upon the very people who worked with the temple energies. Most were poorly dressed and seemed to work as “temple sweepers.” We became quite aware of them when we visited Karnak. There, the Karnak temple Sufis guided us to the exact places we needed to be at the time. After we completed our tasks, they took us to a “secret” shrine of Osiris, where we saw the image of the Tree of Life growing from the Djed. After an initiatiory experience within the Ptah/Sekhmet Shrine in Karnak in which the eyes of the statue of Sekhmet miraculously opened, we returned to the Luxor Temple and checked out the Mosque of Abu ‘l-Haggag.
A man greeted us within the Mosque (which admitted women) and was very, very insistent that Vincent understand and remember the specific lineage of Abu ‘l-Haggag and took the time to slowly go over it. Then he took us to a window which overlooks the Peristyle Court and indicated that the foundations of their Mosque rest directly upon the ancient Temple of Luxor.
When we visited Luxor Temple a second time, the Sufis invited us to return that evening, being emphatic that we arrive by a certain time. We trusted Spirit and arrived in due course. Our hosts were amused by the Nubian galabeas we wore. Vincent recognised one of the Sufis as the contact we met earlier in Karnak, the Keeper and Key-Holder of the Ptah/Sekhmet Temple. This man worked primarily with me. The man from Luxor Temple we had met that morning was paired with Vincent. By the light of the moon, Vincent and I were initiated into the Sufi Order of Abu ‘l-Haggag, just one day after we were united in a ceremony of marriage at the Temple of Horus in Edfu. Together, Vincent and I embody one link to a living Sufic tradition.
I am relating this story because I believe it is important for everyone to know of our link with a living tradition of people who are still on intimate terms with these ancient temples.
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SOURCES
Paul Brunton, A Search in Secret Egypt. E.P. Dutton & Co.: New York:1936.
Veronica Seton-Williams and Peter Stocks, Blue Guide EGYPT. New Nork: W. Norton, 1988. (p 536).
The Sufi Order, Toward the One. Harper& Row: New York, 1974.
© 1995 DARLENE, PRIESTESS OF SEKHMET
(NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN FOR PARTICIPANTS IN THE FIRST DJED RAISING EVENT IN EGYPT, CONDUCTED BY MOIRA TIMMS, WITH VINCENT BRIDGES AND DARLENE. NOW, ALMOST FIVE YEARS LATER, THE POINTS RAISED ARE STILL OF VALUE.)
“The Djed is a pillar, a type of World Tree, representing stability, continuity, and regeneration. Raising the Djed is an Egyptian metaphor for consciously aligning oneself to the celestial center.” Djed pillar, world tree, heaven and Earth, cosmos, chaos, circle, spiral, tree, pillar, cyclical time, ancient knowledge, Horus at Edfu. The Djed is the supreme unifying symbol of all polarities, the backbone of Osiris, the support and backbone of the universe. mythic complex, Osiris, out of the darkness, cosmos regeneration, human axis is the spinal column, The dismembered parts of Osiris represent the spiritual fragmentation of the human condition. astronomic perspective, the raised Djed is the fixed reference point evoking geophysical stability at a time of increased potential for Earth changes. Pillar of Shu (god of atmosphere) was the column of light. archetype of stability and continuity for the coming transitional phase. Self-realization of homoChristos, Thoth the great Master Initiator of Light, global brain, the morphogenetic field of the planet, celestial archeytpes, wheel of time, Time Shift, geodetic coordinates, the Raising of the Djed is instrumental in the periodic, historic, realignment of the planetary and celestial grid meridians. maximal chaos resolves into synchronicity, collective wisdom, Osirian Mysteries, the Djed is a beacon raised in the battle for the soul of the planet. purifying and transforming the world, wisdom of ancient Egypt, Moira Timms, author of Beyond Prophecies and Predictions, Pole star, light bodies, subtle bodies, ritual, Bringing in the Light,
Tags: Egypt, egyptology, Luxor, sufis, sufism